The US Justice Department has opened an investigation into the main Protestant church, the Southern Baptist Convention, after a recent independent report indicated it failed to handle cases of sexual assault by its members.
The church said in a statement that "the Southern Baptist Convention Management Committee has learned that the Ministry of Justice has opened an investigation that will cover several entities affiliated with the organization," stressing that it will "cooperate fully" with the authorities.
"The leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention demonstrated an unwavering determination to address the mistakes of the past and take measures to ensure that they are not repeated in the future," she added.
In May, an independent investigative report revealed the involvement of senior leaders of the "Southern Baptist Church" in obstructing and defaming survivors of sexual assaults by clergy over two decades.
Thanks to investigations published by the "Houston Chronicle" and "San Antonio Express-News" newspapers, this sex scandal was exposed, in which about 400 clergymen, volunteers and educators attacked more than 700 people.
Earlier, the religious establishment announced the adoption of measures to combat sexual assaults, in particular the publication of a database containing the names of its members accused of such abuses, and the establishment of a crisis unit responsible for implementing reforms to combat these abuses.
The church also published a 205-page document containing the names of its members accused of sexual assault since 2007.
The number of Protestants in the United States is about 157 million (43% of the population), of whom 15 million belong to the Southern Baptist Church, which owns and operates 47,000 churches in various states.